The autocatalytic evolution of martensitic microstructure

Abstract

This work considers the autocatalytic spread of the martensitic transformation throughout the austenite grains in FeNiC and FeNiMn alloys. Formal descriptions were reviewed. The microstructural path concept was re-introduced. The model's analysis of scale factors reiterated the importance of the martensite–austenite interaction. We compared the initial heterogeneous martensite nucleation in a polycrystalline FeNiC with the nucleation in a Fe30Ni particulate alloy. A cluster of tetrakaidecahedral austenite grains might be a reasonable choice to describe the martensite spread in the FeNiC.